About

RickB- Human, Artist, Fool.

Ynys Mon, UK.

The blog is called ten percent because of what Kurt Vonnegut wrote when remembering Susan Sontag - She was asked what she had learned from the Holocaust, and she said that 10 percent of any population is cruel, no matter what, and that 10 percent is merciful, no matter what, and that the remaining 80 percent could be moved in either direction.-

And I'm writing it because I need the therapy and I lust for world domination.

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Welsh Fucking Water! (Well United Utilities)

29 April, 2009 — RickB

And now… some light ranty relief:-

Here in sunny, ok rainy at present North Wales you get used to the fact that Welsh Water, the privatised water providing monopoly is incapable of providing clean fucking drinking water on a reliable basis! And here we go again-

About 70,000 households and businesses in two north Wales counties are being advised to boil their drinking water after bacteria were found in supplies. Customers in areas of Flintshire and Denbighshire supplied by the Alwen treatment works are affected.

Now this doesn’t affect me…yet, but for all those tired of this bullshit year in year out I ask- Is drinking water somehow beyond our scientific abilities? I’m sure I’ve heard of other places where amazingly you can drink the water and not get ill, ooh it must be like some futuristic dreamscape! Has the concept of potable water become an impossible riddle to even the greatest of minds?

No, it is just an impossibility to the neoliberal mind. Now enjoy the hilarious farce that is Welsh Water’s post privatisation history (thanks Conservatives!)-

Welsh Water Authority was privatised by stock market flotation in 1989, along with the other nine regional water authorities, which provided the company with a substantial cash surplus for some years, which it used to diversify in a wide range of sectors including leisure (Hotels, Fishing etc.).

Yeah that’s what I want from a water provider, a good range of hotels and a keen interest in angling. Oh no, what I meant was the other thing, what I like in a water provider is clean fucking drinking water! (I may have already mentioned that -clean fucking drinking water- but y’know repetition might make it sink in, in between the suits looking at new car brochures and second home buying).

It renamed itself Hyder in 1996 after taking over a local electricity company (SWALEC) and becoming a water and electricity multi-utility.

What could possibly go wrong, water and electricity mix so well!

However, in 1999/2000, following the windfall tax on utility profits and the 1999 Ofwat price review, Hyder got into financial difficulties which led to its breakup following a takeover battle.

Who could of foreseen their huge profits might get taxed and their business practices were so criminal Ofwat would force a change? They’re not mind readers…Oh these things took some years to happen and there were months of warning, erm…maybe they were otherwise engaged on what colour the hotels should be painted or which celebrity to advertise their fishing business, was Noel Edmonds busy, did Roger Daltrey turn them down?

Western Power Distribution purchased Hyder on 15 September 2000 with a view to acquiring its electricity distribution business, and rapidly sold off Hyder’s other assets. Welsh Water was sold by WPD to Glas Cymru for £1,

A pound? That explains it, they found a babbling tramp in a Cardiff street and swapped the company for a half can of special brew. Wait they didn’t? So what can explain it? Neoliberal MBA managerialism that couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery? Financiers who make money with every transaction regardless of the consequences to those who actually use the service? Like that could ever go wrong, CDO’s all round!

along with £1.85 billion of Hyder debt. Under the terms of its licence Glas Cymru may not operate in sectors other than water.

Imagine, a water providing monopoly actually dedicated to providing water and not using its monopoly (which makes it an industry manifestly unsuitable for privatisation even free market theoreticians could figure that out… or not apparently). But as it’s a monopoly, how about we own it (y’know, like we did), so it runs at cost and no one exploits the need for the most essential substance for life on planet Earth- water.

Dŵr Cymru / Welsh Water (Dŵr Cymru means Welsh Water in Welsh) is owned by Glas Cymru, a company limited by guarantee. Most of Welsh Water’s activities are outsourced to other companies.

So really Welsh Water is a contracting body which passes on the work and …the responsibility?

KWS Wales operate waste water in the south and United Utilities operate clean water for the whole of Wales and waste water in the north.

Hey here’s an idea, keep the two separate! There you can have that for free, you see maybe your consultants haven’t told you this but sewage and drinking water…not the same thing, m’kay?But what was that again?

clean water for the whole of Wales.

Whoa there- United Utilities operate clean water for the whole of Wales– they do? Can we have some of this clean water? Where can you get it?Because it certainly doesn’t come out of the fucking taps!

I know, The Keystone Water Co. strikes again!
We really ought to own it, then at least screw ups are ours and we have incentive not to. I get the feeling none of the execs spend much time in north Wales boiling their water.

Ha de ha ha! Nicely put Otto! You could get those sterilising tablets?!?
Another thing to piss you off is that the end of the A55 is shut for all of next week so ManWeb (such a cool company) can do works. Shame they couldn’t do it the last time the A55 was shut for a week, but that would be too much!
But then not everyone has cars and electricity – at least we don’t have Israeli snipers aimed at us as we try to get from A to B avoiding roadworks and speed cameras – may have to set up a stall in Valley to sell my wares… (StormThinking!)

Ah I meant the works last year, it was down to the original build being er, wet (who could of foreseen that?)-

Motorists are being warned that they will face fresh delays in 2008, while part of the A55 on Anglesey is resurfaced.
The two mile stretch of the road near Holyhead was only built six years ago under a private finance deal. Anglesey council officials say they understand that extremely wet weather during construction has led to the current problems.

Your hydraulic empire proposer back again.
Remember the Puerto Rican comment about infrastructure being sold off ? It isn’t just local or one country. See OhmyNews article 436928 ‘They are building a Krygyz version of the Gulag’.
I’ve thrown some more specifics around at Bluebloggin
Flu pandemic ; stay at home or go to work ? Comment #4

Here you go Opit on the sources you requested, I’m sure that RickB could use them too:

#

Besides living here and reading the headlines every day? Hard to get English language sources in part because we get ignored by American news media (part and partial of our colonial status, neglect comes with the territory).

Besides living here and reading the headlines every day? Hard to get English language sources in part because we get ignored by American news media (part and partial of our colonial status, neglect comes with the territory).

Yeah I know it’s terrible, if only someone could invent a way of sending out mass emails that never stop with details of enhancement products the world would be a better place *sigh*
‘extension kits’ Airfix missed an emerging market there, they could have kept their customers going from Spitfires to something less likely to need an RAF decal on the side (and not in 1/72 scale presumably).